by Arden Hayes
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
HASBRO and its logo, MY LITTLE PONY, EQUESTRIA GIRLS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2018 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
Cover design by Véronique Lefèvre Sweet.
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Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
Visit us at LBYR.com
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First Edition: October 2018
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Library of Congress Control Number 2018941024
ISBNs: 978-0-316-41342-8 (paper over board), 978-0-316-41340-4 (ebook)
E3-20180817-JV-PC
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Cupcakes and Cheer
Chapter 2
A Little Help from Friends
Chapter 3
The Trouble with Rarity
Chapter 4
A New Neighbor
Chapter 5
See for Yourself
Chapter 6
Waiting for the Big Idea
Chapter 7
A Sweet Mess
Chapter 8
Off Tune
Chapter 9
One More Try
Chapter 10
Sugar on the Corner
Chapter 11
The Sugarcube Corner Planning Committee
Chapter 12
Two Parties in One
Chapter 13
Inspiration and Perspiration
Chapter 14
Making Up Is Hard to Do
Chapter 15
Taste Testing
Chapter 16
The Mocha Marvel
Chapter 17
A Showstopper
Chapter 18
Lines Out the Door
A Preview of Rainbow Dash Brings the Blitz
“Two huckleberry croissants, ready to go!” Pinkie Pie called out as she set them on the counter.
“We ordered two hot chocolates, too…” a woman with neon-green glasses said. She peeked over Pinkie’s shoulder, looking for the mugs.
“Of course—I never forget!” Pinkie called out. “Our hot chocolates just take a little longer because they’re made with real chocolate… and kindness and love and all the other good stuff that takes time.”
Pinkie Pie offered the customer her sweetest just-one-more-minute smile and turned back to the stove. She stirred the melting chocolate pieces around and around until they were smooth enough to add to the milk. She was pretty quick to get up people’s orders, but hot chocolate always slowed her down. Everything at Sugarcube Corner was done by hand and made to order just for the customer. It was what made the bakery so special. You could taste all the extra love and effort put into each one of their cakes and pies. It just wasn’t always as quick as some people would’ve liked.
Pinkie Pie mixed the steamed milk and melted chocolate and poured it into two of her favorite mugs. One was painted with butterflies, and the other had tiny cherries all over it. She’d invited her friends to the café one afternoon so they could each paint a few mugs and plates for the owners of Sugarcube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who had wanted the dishes to have that one-of-a-kind feel. They had to toss a few of the ones Rainbow Dash had made (she was more of an… abstract artist), but otherwise they’d turned out beautifully.
“Two hot chocolates with extra marshmallows,” Pinkie Pie repeated to herself as she grabbed two miniature cookies and put them on the side of the saucers. She strode over to the woman’s table and set them down in front of her and her young son. “And I threw in two chocolate chip cookies for dipping! You’ve had chocolate chip cookies before, but not like this. This is a special Sugarcube Corner recipe.”
The woman bit into a cookie, and her eyes went wide. “These are delicious. What’s in them?”
“It’s a special secret Sugarcube Corner recipe,” Pinkie Pie answered.
When Pinkie Pie turned back to the counter, she couldn’t help smiling. It really didn’t matter that the hot chocolate was a minute late; what mattered was that she cared about every single person who came into the café. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had taught her that. They loved treating their customers as if they were friends and family who had come to their home.
“We’ll take one of everything!” called out a familiar voice.
Pinkie turned to see Twilight Sparkle standing in the front entrance. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Fluttershy were at one of the sidewalk tables outside. They waved at Pinkie Pie through the window.
“Just kidding,” Twilight said, bounding over. “But we are going to order some snacks.”
She leaned on the counter, watching as Pinkie Pie grabbed a few stray dishes from an empty table and dropped them in the sink.
“The usual?” Pinkie Pie asked. Lately when her friends came in after school, they ordered a whole key lime pie, and each had a piece. Whenever she could, Pinkie Pie would take a five-minute break to eat with them.
“I think we’re going to mix it up today,” Twilight said. “Maybe a banana split pie? Or… is there anything else you think is spectacular?”
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes lit up as she spoke. Pinkie Pie loved how much Twilight loved sweets. She was Sugarcube Corner’s perfect customer, always wanting to try the latest red velvet cupcake or pumpkin walnut cookie.
Pinkie Pie smiled mischievously and waved her into the back room. “Follow me!”
The bakery was in the back of the shop, tucked behind the counter. It had a few long worktables and two huge refrigerators that stored all the cakes, pies, and cupcakes. Pinkie Pie went to the fridge and grabbed a freshly frosted cupcake off the shelf, along with a bowl of chocolate batter.
“This is our yummy cherry-cheesecake cupcake,” she said, passing it to Twilight proudly. “Technically, they go on sale tomorrow, but I think I can sneak our best customers an early preview.”
“Oh… yummmm…” Twilight Sparkle said through her first bite. “What’s in the middle?”
“That’s sweet cream,” Pinkie explained. “Good, right? But not nearly as good as my mocha cocoa cupcake will be. I’ve been working on the recipe for weeks.”
She dipped a spoon into the bowl and gave the batter to Twilight. Twilight took a taste and smiled. “It is good!”
“Right now it’s good,” Pinkie Pie said, “but by the time I perfect the recipe it’ll be the most extraordinary cupcake you’ve ever tasted. I’m even thinking about making special toasted, roasted marshmallow frosting. Mmmmm!”
“Sounds delicious,” Twilight said. “For n
ow, we’ll have to settle for a half-dozen delicious cherry-cheesecake cupcakes.”
“Just a half dozen?” Pinkie Pie knew Twilight never could eat just one.
“Fine!” Twilight laughed. “Let’s just get a whole dozen, and we’ll bring some home.”
“That’s more like it,” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled the tray from the refrigerator. “I’ll bring them out to you.”
Twilight returned to the front, and Pinkie Pie moved quickly around the kitchen, hand-frosting each cupcake. Then she made special designs on the top, using the tiniest piping bag she could find. A flower with rainbow petals for Rainbow Dash, a purple lilac for Twilight Sparkle, an apple for Applejack, a bow for Rarity, a guitar for Sunset Shimmer, and a butterfly for Fluttershy. Brimming with pride when she was done, she stared down at her creations.
“These are perfect,” said Pinkie Pie, assembling them on a tray.
And they were.
“Geez!” Mr. Cake said as he carried a stack of plates into the kitchen. “This is the busiest Saturday we’ve had in a while.”
Pinkie was at the stove, making six hot chocolates, while Mrs. Cake ran the register. Apparently, there had been a huge track meet at Canterlot High that morning, and now the whole team was at the café, along with their parents and friends. Pinkie Pie barely noticed when Rarity and Rainbow Dash came in.
“Do we really have to wait in this line?” Rainbow Dash said, half joking as they leaned against the counter. “It’s practically out the door!”
“I know,” Pinkie Pie said. “We weren’t expecting a crowd today. But I guess the track team knows where to get the best cupcakes and cookies in town!”
“I’ll need three peanut butter cookies and a dozen lemon cream cupcakes to go,” Mrs. Cake called out from the register. She was talking to Pinkie Pie, of course, who was already elbow-deep in making hot chocolates. Pinkie wondered for a moment how she’d ever catch up to all these orders, but she knew she would. As Sugarcube Corner’s best—and only—employee, she always did.
“Just one minute!” Pinkie called back, stirring the chocolate in an attempt to make it melt faster. Mr. Cake was running around the café, clearing tables and talking to customers. Pinkie desperately looked around for another set of helping hands, but there were only the three of them. They’d been working that way for years.
“We can help,” Rainbow Dash said, noticing her friend’s increasingly frantic expression. “What do you need?”
Pinkie Pie glanced over at Mrs. Cake, who shrugged her approval. “I mean, they’re here every day,” Mrs. Cake said. “They know the place better than most people. We could use some extra hands for a bit—”
“Great! Could you keep stirring this so it doesn’t burn?” Pinkie Pie immediately asked Rainbow Dash. Then she pointed to the pitcher of steamed milk on the counter. “When it’s fully melted, stir the milk into the pot. Then pour out six hot chocolates into those mugs. Rarity, you can come with me!”
Rainbow Dash raced behind the front counter and went to work, pulling down six different mugs. “Where are the ones I painted?” she asked herself quietly.
Pinkie Pie waved for Rarity to follow her into the back room. “We can frost the cupcakes really quickly,” she said. “And the cookies are already done; we just have to throw them into a bag. Here!”
She pulled the tray of lemon cupcakes and a bowl of frosting from the fridge and set them down on the long table. Then she handed Rarity a spatula.
“What do I do?” Rarity asked, staring from the spatula to the cupcakes.
“Just smooth a little bit of frosting onto each one,” Pinkie Pie explained. “Then, if you’re feeling creative, you can make a flower or a bow or a heart. Those are the piping bags we use for decorating cakes and stuff. No pressure, though! Oh—and this is where the boxes are. For when they’re done.”
Pinkie Pie pointed around the room at the different supplies. Then she grabbed more peanut butter cookies from the tray and brought them to Mrs. Cake. She put three in a bag and set them aside for the customer.
“Rarity’s frosting the lemon cupcakes,” she called to Mrs. Cake. “They’ll be right out!”
“It shouldn’t be long!” Mrs. Cake repeated to the customer, a blue-haired girl Pinkie Pie recognized from her gym class.
By the time Pinkie Pie had done this, Rainbow Dash had already served the customers their hot chocolates. Seeing there was still work to be done, she began busing tables. She set some empty mugs in the sink and refilled a napkin dispenser while Pinkie started washing some of the dirty dishes.
Mr. Cake ran around behind the counter, putting cookies and slices of pie onto different plates. “We need two slices of cookies-and-cream crumble at table fourteen,” he said as he pointed to two girls from the track team.
Pinkie Pie dried two plates and put a fresh piece of pie on each. Then she ran the order over to the girls and sprinted back. She made sure to grab a few dirty mugs along the way. When she got to the counter, Rarity was there with the box of lemon cupcakes.
“Let’s see,” Pinkie Pie said, opening the top. “Wow!”
There were a dozen perfectly frosted cupcakes inside. Rarity’s talent for design and sewing had somehow translated to cake decoration. She had made tiny yellow lemons on the top of each cupcake, complete with little stems and leaves. She just shrugged as if it were the easiest thing ever. “Darling, it was nothing compared to pulling together the diamond-encrusted line of Blitzball uniforms I made last semester.”
“Wow is right,” Mr. Cake said, peering into the box. “You’re a natural!”
Even Mrs. Cake had taken a break from the register to look. “You know, we could use some extra help in the kitchen…” she said.
“Would you ever be interested in taking on a couple of shifts?” Mr. Cake asked. “Pinkie Pie could use help in the back, frosting cakes and organizing supplies. And we could teach you to run the register when it gets really busy.”
Rarity looked surprised. “I suppose that could be kind of—”
“Fun!” Pinkie Pie finished her sentence. “So much fun! We’d be working together. Palling around, being pals at work and pals at school and pals at—”
“Yes, officially, yes.” Rarity smiled, and Pinkie gave her a jumping squeeze.
Mrs. Cake grabbed one of the extra aprons from under the register and handed it to Rarity. “I’m glad. Consider today your first day. You’re hired!”
Rarity and Pinkie Pie clasped hands. Pinkie Pie was so excited that she felt as if she might burst from happiness. Sure, working at Sugarcube Corner was fun, but it would be ten times more fun with Rarity working beside her. The pair darted into the back to make more cookies, hardly noticing Rainbow Dash walking over with a tower of dirty dishes. She seemed a little annoyed she hadn’t been offered a shift, too.
“What am I…?” she said to no one in particular. “Minced meat?!”
Pinkie Pie looked at the clock for the tenth time. It was 3:22. 3:22! Which meant that Sugarcube Corner’s newest employee, Rarity, was officially twenty-two minutes late.
“Where’s Rarity?” Mrs. Cake asked. They’d just gotten a new shipment of supplies, and she was helping Mr. Cake unload it into the back of the café. She had come out to the register to drop off a brand-new box of melting chocolate.
“Um… she must be running late,” Pinkie Pie said sheepishly. She hoped her friend wouldn’t let down the Cakes.
“Hope everything’s all right.” Mrs. Cake gave her a sad smile before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Pinkie Pie grabbed one of the rags and started wiping down the counter. She wiped faster and faster, putting all her might into it. This was only Rarity’s fourth shift at Sugarcube Corner, and already she was super late. Pinkie Pie had texted her once, but she hadn’t heard anything back. Didn’t Rarity realize how worried she was making Pinkie? She kept picturing Rarity in the middle of the street, a car screeching toward her. Or sick in bed and unable to get to the phone. Sure, Pinkie Pie h
ad just seen her at school two hours ago, but what if something happened after school? Something terrible?
“Could I please have another piece of that pecan pie, Pinkie?” Feathers Grey looked up from his book. He was a silver-haired man who spent every afternoon in Sugarcube Corner, usually reading a new book. He always wore a green three-piece suit. Pinkie got the feeling he didn’t have many people to talk to, so she made a point of being extra kind to him. She had to give him credit; he didn’t seem to mind the packs of rowdy Canterlot High students who came by once school let out. He was always happily focused on whatever book he had brought to read that day.
“Of course, coming right up,” Pinkie said. She went to the fridge in the back and cut him another slice, then arranged it on a pretty green plate with polka dots. She set it down in front of him just as Rarity walked in.
“You’re okay!” Pinkie cried, running toward her and enveloping her friend in a massive hug. She let out a huge sigh of relief. “I was so worried!”
Rarity looked confused as she wiggled out of Pinkie’s arms. “Darling, I’m so sorry I’m late. Did I worry you? I was just with Twilight Sparkle. You wouldn’t believe it, but the strap on her shoe broke on her way to an after-school debate meet. Completely unwearable. So we had to stop by the Blooming Rose, that new boutique on Main Street. I found these incredible boots for her. Lavender with sparkly laces. They’re really quite fabulous. Totally pulled her look together, for the debate, too.”
She breezed past Pinkie and grabbed her apron. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and tried to smile. She knew Rarity had just been trying to help Twilight Sparkle, and of course no one appreciated a fabulous pair of shoes more than Rarity did. But couldn’t she have responded to Pinkie’s text or let Pinkie know she was going to be late? Pinkie really didn’t want to be too harsh toward her friend, but Sugarcube Corner was so important to her and the Cakes, and they needed to be able to rely on Rarity.
“Oh… heh-heh.… yeah, they sound real cool.” Pinkie Pie tried her hardest to seem normal. “I was just worried… because you were supposed to be here at three.” Pinkie added a grin to soften her nudging tone. She wasn’t sure it was working.